The annual Report sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme and written by the local authors, this year deals with the public policy process in Latvia: it is trying to determine the openness of public policy and the way it affects human development. Apart from general conclusions about influence of policy upon human development (Chapter 1), the Report also gives empirical, analytic information on the public policy process (Chapter 2), participation in public policy (Chapter 3) and administrative capacity of administrative institutions in the context of human development (Chapter 4). Basic information that characterises human development in the previous year has also been included in the Report.

The authors of the Report, taking as the basis official documents, as well the results of interviews and public opinion polls, conclude that the policy making and decision taking process in Latvia is closed and it is difficult for the public to influence it. Greater degree of openness is observed in geographically smaller entities, in many local authorities where the administrative institutions have more direct contacts with the public. At the same time the public is demonstrating high interest in politics and a wish to get involved in policy making process, the authors recommend to make use of it in the actual decision-making. However, some administrative institutions have insufficient capacity in order to use this potential.

The authors of the Report have defined a number of practical recommendations for actions aimed at reducing these problems, for example: ensure equal access to information for urban and rural population; involvement of the public in the activities of political parties; broader and more effective use of policy analyses by state institutions; reorganisation of work and reallocation of responsibilities on the level of the Cabinet of Ministers; strengthening of interministerial co-operation and co-ordination; development of publicly accessible register of draft decisions; strengthening of non-governmental organisations; introduction of an ombudsman institution; proceeding from strategic and political priorities in the planning of the national budget.